1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a vehicle cabin power transfer arrangement. More specifically, the present invention relates to transferring power within a vehicle cabin without direct electrical conduction of contacts.
2. Background Information
Nowadays, vehicles are often used to operate a variety of portable electrical devices such as heated cups, cell phones, laptop computers, etc. To accommodate theses electrical devices, adapters have been developed that can be plugged into one of a plurality of cigarette lighter sockets, which then acts as a vehicle power outlet for providing electrical power to the electrical device. Many of today's electrical devices incorporate a rechargeable battery or rechargeable power cell. These vehicle power outlets are often used for recharging such electrical devices. However, some of these electrical devices are configured to be recharged via inductive coupling. Thus, these electrical devices that use inductive coupling can not be recharged in a vehicle without some sort of special adapter. Examples of some electrical devices that use inductive coupling include portable telephones, electrical shavers and electrical tooth brushes.
In particular, U.S. Patent Application No. 2004/0145343 discloses a contactless charging system based on induction coupling. The contactless charging system includes a primary coil in a charger and a secondary coil in a portable telephone. The charger charges a battery in the portable telephone via induction coupling between the primary and secondary coils.
However, with the above mentioned electrical devices, one disadvantage is the primary coil and secondary coil must be accurately aligned. Attempts to diminish the requirement of exact alignment between the coils have been made, for example, in contactless power transfer systems such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,906,495. The contactless power transfer system of this patent provides a thin plate like member having a primary inductor with a coil. When a current flows through the thin plate like member, an electromagnetic field or flux is generated above an exterior surface. A secondary device placed on the exterior surface in any orientation receives power from the primary unit via a second inductor. The second inductor, which is placed within the magnetic flux, provides a voltage to the secondary device.
Instead of using one of the cigarette lighter sockets as a power outlet, it is also known to hardwire an adapter directly to the electrical system of the vehicle. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,670,583 to Kara (Assigned to Ford Global Technologies, LLC) discloses providing a heatable cup system in which a cup holder that is attached to a console of a vehicle receives a heatable cup. The cup and cup holder have corresponding electric contacts with the electric contacts of the cup holder being hard wired to the electrical system of the vehicle. The electric contacts are in the form of magnets to produce a contact assisted by magnetic force.
However, the heated cup system has electric contacts that are exposed to a wet environment. That is, if liquid in the cup should spill, the charger could become shorted out. Furthermore, the electric contacts in the above heated cup system must be accurately aligned.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved vehicle cabin power transfer arrangement that limits exposure of electrical contacts to a wet environment. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.